The Story of Stuff book even talks about books! Image from Flickr.

When The Story of Stuff video was released in 2007, it quickly went viral. The video asks us to re-think the “materials economy” – where people purchase stuff, sometimes using cheap payday loans, use it, and then dispose of it. Over 10 million views later, Annie Leonard has released a 300-page book that goes much more in depth than The Story of Stuff’s original 20-minute video.

The Story of Stuff, the original

The original 20-minute video The Story of Stuff features single mom Annie Leonard talking about the realities of how stuff is made, purchased, and disposed of, including it’s environmental impact.

The Story of Stuff becomes a book

While at first it may seem counter-intuitive that The Story of Stuff Project would grow into a book – another piece of “stuff” – author Annie Leonard outlines the multiple reasons for writing the book on her website. A book is able to provide so much more information about her 10 years of research into The Story of Stuff (including sneaking into illegal factories). The Story of Stuff book also answers hundreds of the questions people asked her when they first saw her Story of Stuff video – like how do they get involved and where do they get more information.

The Story of Stuff book bridges divides

Just as importantly as sharing even more information about The Story of Stuff, a book is able to go places and make an impact in ways an online video never could. Only a small minority of people have internet access fast and consistent enough to do things like watch videos – and a book can go anywhere.

The Story of Stuff book is hopeful

Watching The Story of Stuff can seem kind of depressing. Not only are we using up the world’s resources, but we are doing it so quickly that faxless payday loans get used to feed the obsession. Amazingly, in the book even more so than the video, The Story of Stuff becomes a hopeful tale. Yes, it covers in detail what is going wrong, but it also covers in even more detail the hopeful signs. The Story of Stuff distills down to the fact that yes, things are bad – but we can get involved and we can make a difference.

The Story of Stuff book is even fairly stuff-free

If, after watching The Story of Stuff, you feel guilty about wanting to buy, rent, or read the book, you won’t need to. The Story of Stuff book is printed on 100% Post-Consumer Waste paper, uses soy inks, solvent-free glues, and even used electronic editing. Even better than that, an MP3 CD of the book is set to be released soon, so you can listen to the book instead. Yes, the book does contribute a bit to the Stuff on your bookshelf, but it does so in the way that will help The Story of Stuff become a much more positive story.

Robert Halderman (Photo: News.About-Knowledge.com)

If TV characters are your only friends – and I include talk show hosts among the cast of “characters” – then you may have been all broken up over David Letterman’s recent infidelity with Stephanie Birkitt (among others) and the subsequent attempted blackmail against him by CBS producer Robert Halderman. It makes for an ugly professional and domestic struggle, and we all know about it because David Letterman is famous. Perhaps even more famous than Mr. T, although I’ll follow the Mohawk night elf’s conflict resolution advice any time:

Robert Halderman attempts $2 million Letterman extortion

The New York Times reports that Robert Halderman will likely plead guilty before New York State Supreme Court, although it is unclear if his plea will be for the most serious crime he faces, grand larceny. He would then receive six months in prison, with four-and-a-half years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service to follow. Payday loans with no faxing would be out of the question, but apparently Mr. Extorter is suspended from CBS with pay (more on that later). Halderman was accused of attempting to wring $2 million out of David Letterman to buy silence over Letterman’s various affairs. Soon after the initial extortion attempt, Letterman made a statement and issued an apology for the affairs on “The Late Show.” Halderman was arrested the following day.

Robert Halderman’s lawyer says he was only trying to sell Letterman “book rights”

That’s what Halderman’s lawyer, Gerald L. Shargel, was attempting to argue. Guess that ploy didn’t work, did it? Sure, Robert Halderman may have actually had evidence that fingered David Letterman in multiple affairs – which seems likely, as Letterman quickly apologized on air – but the Letterman extortion attempt was a no-no, legally. Hopefully Mr. Halderman was more careful when he put together his various Emmy-winning documentaries for CBS news, because his piece on the extortion of David Letterman blew up in his face. Now CBS has suspended Halderman – with pay! – pending legal developments.

With pay? Hmmm…

It seems to me that if you or I were suspected of blackmail, we would be summarily fired by our places of employment. Fame definitely has its perks. Robert Halderman was a noted television producer who can afford the setbacks. We would need faxless payday loans before long, but we’d have to have steady income to qualify. Unemployment tends to ruin that plan for most people.

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To avoid the hassle with paying off your taxes obviously requires that you have the money to do so. It is also important to pay on time and not wait until you receive a warning letter in the mail. If you think you may not be able to pay your tax bill on time, then you should reconsider using a payday loan. There are numerous instant cash advance lenders online who can accommodate to your needs.

Advantages of taking out an instant cash advance

Applying for an instant cash loan nowadays can be done in a flash with the increased options available for you like payday loans without credit checks and online faxless payday loans. The best thing about taking advantage of quick cash lenders is that they never require unneeded paperwork, so the chance of getting your instant cash advance approved is almost 100 percent. Money lenders are everywhere and the choices are wide, but if you want to look around and see which one has a better offer, then look no further than an online money lender site such as Personal Money Store.

What to expect with instant cash advance

Getting a quick cash loan requires that you be 18 years old and receive regular paychecks. The amount that you can take out for an instant cash advance can vary from $100 up to $1,500 and can be paid 15 or 20 days starting from the loan’s release. In the event you have trouble paying off the cash advance, your lender likely has a program to help borrowers avoid delinquent payment, such as an installment payment plan that fits your income.

There is an instant cash advance for people with bad credit

Borrowers that have a bad credit rating normally would not be granted a loan, but payday loan lenders are so flexible that they usually offer faxless or no credit check options, so finding the right loan for you is no longer an issue. Truly, for those tax payments and all your money borrowing needs after tax day, an online instant cash advance is what you should use.

Apply here for an instant cash advance

Onboard a Carnival Cruise Lines ship. Image from Flickr.

Carnival Cruise Lines is getting record-breaking business this year. From the beginning of 2010 to Feb. 21, bookings were the highest they’ve ever been. I have advice for people thinking of going on a cruise and speculations about the reason Carnival Cruise Lines is doing so well.

Carnival Cruise Lines announces rate increase

Carnival Cruise Line tickets are in such high demand, the company is doing what any free-market-thinking enterprise would do: raising prices. The Carnival Cruise Lines web site says “rates increase on all summer sailings” on March 22. It appears as though wannabe cruise-goers will have to wait until then to make their travel plans.

I was excited when I went to the Carnival Cruise Lines web site and saw price tags smaller than most faxless payday loans. Did you know you can go on a cruise for just a few hundred dollars? Unfortunately, the cruises at the current listed prices are all sold out, so don’t get your hopes up. Still, if you want to go on a cruise this summer, be sure to book as soon as possible. Carnival Cruise Lines has an Early Saver Program.

Carnival Cruise Line pricing

I was pretty surprised when I saw how much it costs to go on a voyage on Carnival Cruise Lines. On the home page at Carnival Cruise Lines’ web site, it says 3-day cruises start at $169! In the past I’ve always written off cruises as being just for rich people. However, some of the cruises are cheaper than plane tickets, which brings me to my next point.

Airlines versus cruise lines

Airline ticket prices, terrorist threats and stressful airports have no doubt contributed to the record bookings at Carnival Cruise Lines. People are finding out that some cruises are cheaper than flights. Add the fact that cruise ships are not common targets of terrorist bombings and subtract the lengthy, annoying process of going through airport security, and you’ve got yourself a dream vacation. You probably won’t even need a small personal loan to pull it off.

Some people don’t fly because of fear, and some don’t want to pay ridiculous baggage fees. The fact that Carnival Cruise Lines has drawn a record number of customers despite the recession shows the price is right — and for many the time and travel method are right, too. If you want to avoid airports and save some money, mark March 22 on your calendar to take advantage of Carnival Cruise Lines’ lowest available prices.

Faxless payday loans have become one of the most popular solutions for those needing cash in a hurry. Commonly referred to as payday loans, faxless payday loans allow one to apply for quick financing when in need of money for whichever reason you might have. Of course the turnaround time in terms of approval may well vary, however the standard nowadays has been drastically reduced, making this a quick and accessible option.

Going paperless

The paperless process of the faxless loan does not involve a credit check in most cases, which is of course a major benefit for those that have credit report-related problems. The need for quick cash varies from one person to the next, and with the faxless payday loans, this need will certainly be met. Whether it is for an emergency medical bill, a broken down motor vehicle, or some other emergency requiring the need for cash, the benefits of payday faxless payday loans can certainly help those requiring immediate cash flow.

Turnaround times in so far as getting the cash vary between providers and can be in as short a time period as one or two hours. This is largely due to the paperless option of these types of loans, which can be applied for directly online, even telephonically in some cases. Depending on current circumstances, the approved loan can amount to anything from a couple of hundred dollars to in excess of a thousand dollars; the current salary being earned will be the determining factor here. In addition to the factor of current earnings, the laws within the state or region that the loan is applied for must be taken into account with respect to the amount that will be approved.

No credit check

Many may ask as to why no credit check is necessary for the payday faxless payday loans. This held in the fact that the full amount is payable as agreed upon within the stipulated time period, and therefore there is no regular repayment or installment agreement that is imposed, and hence no need for a credit check.

This does not mean that everyone automatically qualifies, and certain criteria must be met. These include age requirements, current income criteria and the possession of a bank account, at the very least.

Applying for faxless payday loans are pretty easy and convenient and offers one the opportunity of securing much needed cash when needed most.

Start your faxless payday loan application HERE!

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zoe_Saldana.jpg

The theory that billion-dollar blockbuster “Avatar” is racist has quickly spread. Whether you think that “Avatar” is racist is a matter of opinion, and in  my opinion people will only say “Avatar” is racist if that’s what they want to see. Sure, if you look for it, you could argue that racism is there. I could probably find racism in faxless payday loans if I really wanted to. People will see whatever they want to see.

I don’t think James Cameron or the writers of “Avatar” intended to be racist. The racism argument goes, as far as I can tell, something like this: Because the hero is white and he ends up helping and leading people of a different, non-white, race, “Avatar” is racist. Many people call “Avatar” a “white male savior” movie.

Argument: ‘Avatar’ is not racist

So, a white guy plays the main character, the protagonist, the “hero.” So does that mean every movie that has a white hero is racist? Some people are even going so far as to say that the film is sexist, too, because the hero is a man.

However, it could be argued that Princess Neytiri is also a hero. She is one of the characters of the alien race and she is a woman. I won’t go into it too much, in case you haven’t seen the film, but some of the plot points prove that Neytiri doesn’t need white man Jake to save her.

Who is the real racist? ‘Avatar’ or the audience?

Part of what’s fueling the “Avatar is racist” argument is that all of the main characters who play blue aliens are actually played by people of color. However, if the casting directors told me that they simply chose the best people for the parts, I’d believe them.

Also, though the main protagonist is a white dude, the white people in general in “Avatar” are the bad guys. The blue aliens are peaceful and nature-loving, and the white guys are destructive and evil. So I guess maybe that makes it racist against white people, but that’s a stretch, too.

Becoming a part of Statistics

According to Washington Post writer Guy Gugliotta, there was “a survey of 44 cities, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that 75 percent of the low-income households earning less than $10,000 per year are paying more than 30 percent of their incomes in rent.” (a.08, Nov25, 1992)

In today’s day and age, many have found themselves closer and closer to being part of this statistic. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Soon there will no longer be a middle class; just the poor and the rich. Now I consider myself to be of the lower middle class income level. However, I would be ranked in the lowest class if it wasn’t for installment loans for people with bad credit. In fact, I think many people depend on money loans to get by these days. Without this option, the middle class would become obsolete.

Payday loans are for all income levels

Some are as low as 50 dollars and others as high as 1500 dollars, whichever the case, Personal Money Store can help alleviate the situation that’s plaguing America today.

“The study discovered that poor households in California had the gravest problems with rents, with five California urban areas showing 87 percent or more of low-income households unable to obtain affordable housing.” (a.08)

Every product or service you can think of is on the rise, especially in California where many of its residents are unable to pay their rent. I’m not personally from California, but I have been in this dire situation on more than one occasion. My pay day just wasn’t coming soon enough in some cases. In one instance, I had to send my 7-year-old daughter out of state to go live with family because I could not come up with rent. I was not going to drag my little girl through homeless shelters, so I sacrificed my time with her. We are now together again, but I don’t know what the outcome would have been if I wasn’t able to get short term loans online during the hard times.

How loans can help.

Hard money loans helped me stay afloat and, in many situations, can help all families keep their housing or even get the deposit to move into a new home. Now instant cash isn’t always an option. Some people resort to illegal activities just to keep their home. This is not an option to the average person. You can get payday cash with a fax less payday loan. I use same day loans for a lot of different reasons. I avoided homelessness once. I also repaired my car a few times using money from an online payday loan.

Pay day loan advances can’t fix the housing crisis in California and throughout the United States, but It can help a lot of working people keep what they have strived so hard to achieve. I am grateful everyday for Personal Money Store. Had they not help loan me fast cash, I would not be here today to tell you about this very topic. Thanks for reading and I hope you can find relief with all your money woes through the same service.

Start Your Money Loans Application HERE!

There’s no better time for a no credit check payday loan than when a temporary financial setback strikes at home. With Personal Money Store’s online applications you have a secret weapon that’s timeless, and that can help you through any cash situation.

No Credit? No Problem!

Worried about less than perfect credit? Don’t, because with Personal Money Store your credit score doesn’t matter. In today’s economy a living wage is hard to find according to writer Betsy Z. Russell from the Spokesman review newspaper. Betsy states, “Any one lucky enough to find a job in 2008 likely ended up with one that doesn’t pay enough to support a family”. Today we all struggle to make ends meet, so it’s a blessing that payday loans and installment loans for people with bad credit can be a potential opportunity.

Completely Online Without the Hassle of a Fax Machine

Online payday loans are a great resource for all Americans. With Personal Money Store the process is safe, quick, and easy. Let’s face it, not all people have a fax machine at their beck and call, but getting a no credit check payday loan through Personal Money Store is easy because there’s no faxing and it’s completely online. With the economic conditions getting worse, you can feel secure that you can have cash advance that you need in the bank. Personal Money Store is a free online service that can help you get the no credit check payday loan that you need through one of its many reputable lenders and in most cases, in as little as two hours!

Reasons Why No Credit Check Payday Loans Can Help You

Not convinced? Well listen to a few compelling reasons to say yes!

1. Payday loans save your credit score from late payments.
2. Payday loans can help you avoid overdraft fees from you bank.
3. Payday loans can lower overall family financial stress.

I could go on and on about the benefits of an online payday loan, but you won’t know unless you try it out yourself. So check out the easy online application. It’s Safe and confidential. Your no credit check payday cash advance is waiting, just click Apply Now! and you’ll be on your way to financial freedom.

Start Your No Credit Check Application Here!

Given the current never-ending tight credit crunch, a lot of people are now using no fax payday loans to ensure that they keep up with their planned and unplanned expenses such as credit card payments and other expected bill payments like rent or auto loans. Even unexpected bills and expenses like repair of a disabled vehicle or maybe electronic equipment such as a laptop computer or even hospital bills can be covered.

It’s a Fax-Less Loan

No fax payday loans do not require you to fax your I.D. and bank documents. Because of this, they are also known as fax-less loans. People who have Internet access and a savings or checking account can instantly decrease their financial worries using cash that is always available through a no fax payday loan.

They’re Available Online

Unlike other types of loans that require you to fax proof of identity and other information, a no fax payday loan just requires you to visit your lender’s Web site or their office within your neighborhood, fill out a simple form and submit. Your application will be assessed and you will get a reply almost instantly. You may even get the loan money in your account within the hour in some cases.

No Credit History Checks are Done

If you need cash to lower your financial stress or that of your entire family, then you should look in the direction of a no fax payday loan. These loans don’t require a check on your past credit records for your loan to be approved and paid out. So even if you have a bad credit history, you can still secure a no fax payday loan easily.

They are Collateral-Free

No fax payday loans are hassle-free because they are impersonal and easy to obtain. They also do not require any collateral submission. So that’s one less hassle for your loan approval.

Avoid Trouble with Collectors

Payday loans can keep you out of trouble with collectors. If you owe some money that requires urgent payment and you can’t make that before your next payday, then a no fax payday loan can help you sort that out and avoid being taken to court or have the collectors show up at your door.

Cheaper than Overdraft Fees

No fax payday loans are generally cheaper than overdraft fees. If you are in dire need of avoiding or eliminating overdraft fee, then a no fax payday loan is your way out. It offers a major advantage as a short-term financial backup plan against overdrawing your checking or savings account, especially in difficult financial situations of today.

Easily Pay Back on Your Next Payday

You can pay back your faxless payday loan with your next pay check. In fact, you can have the entire amount automatically transferred to your lender from your bank account on your payday or the next day of your payday.
It’s easy to see that a faxless payday loan is safe, fast, easy and less stressful to apply for and can help you get out of your current financial conditions no matter how bad they may be.

Apply for a No Fax Payday Loan HERE!

Since July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour. That means in every state in the United States, employers must pay workers at least $7.25 per hour. In Washington, D.C., it means employers must pay $8.25 per hour because the law there dictates they must pay $1 more than minimum wage.

The $7.25 federal minimum wage amounts to about $1,200 per month — before taxes. Taxes account for an average of 24 percent, depending on the area, which leaves the federal minimum wage earner with less than $1,000 per months to take home. Of course, that’s only for people who work 40 hours per week. It’s no wonder so many families end up needing faxless payday loans to help them get by.

How low can you go?

Despite the fact that the federal minimum wage is not a living wage for anyone who pays rent, some states such as Colorado want to pay less than the federal minimum wage. Colorado, which bases its minimum wage on inflation, says it wants to lower its minimum wage to $7.24 an hour. Of course, it can’t legally do that, but it speaks volumes about the economy.

Many states already have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum wage, and in states where the minimum wage is based on inflation, it could mean the workers in those states would take pay cuts if the state minimum wage is lowered. The idea of a lower minimum wage is especially catastrophic now, when so many unemployed workers are being forced to take low-paying jobs. More people are struggling to get by on minimum wage, so that many more people would be affected if states lower their minimum wages.

When employers don’t pay federal minimum wage

Lucky for Colorado workers and any other states contemplating lowering their minimum wage, they can’t. Furthermore, businesses who try to skirt the federal minimum wage face stiff penalties, as a couple of businesses recently found out.

Southern California Maid Service and Carpet Cleaning Inc. must pay employees $3.5 million in back wages by Nov. 12, a judge ruled today. The owners also spent five days in jail. A site called 7th Space reports:

The owners of a Southland residential cleaning service were taken into custody and later released after failing to comply with a court order directing payment of $3.5 million in back wages, plus interest, fines and liquidated damages to at least 385 workers.

Lost in translation

The owners of Tasty Buffet in Memphis also are being fined for failing to pay workers minimum wage. The fine has doubled to $459,658 after the owners failed to pay the original fine.

The owners are contesting this, saying they provided food and lodging as well as wages for many employees. They also say they didn’t understand the labor laws.

Federal minimum wage exceptions

It is true that in certain cases employers don’t have to pay the federal minimum wage. For example, employers aren’t required to pay commissioned sales employees the federal minimum wage.  Other exemptions include companions for the elderly, workers with disabilities, newspaper deliverers, farm workers and fishermen.

In some states, food service workers who make tips also are paid less than the federal minimum wage, though that is becoming less common.

"Cake wreck spotting" has become a popular sport, as evidenced by this photo from Flickr. Can't guess what this cake is supposed to be? It's a turtle.

It’s fun to watch the way the print world and the Internet feed into each other. Most of the time, I read stories about how newspapers are shutting down and books will someday be obsolete because of the Internet. However, Cake Wrecks is an example of a book that was spawned from a blog.

This book would have never existed if it weren’t for the fact that the Cake Wrecks blog got so hugely popular. After the Cake Wrecks blog spawned the Cake Wrecks book, a little print publication called The New York Times wrote about the book and the blog, adding the fuel that now has word of the Cake Wrecks spreading like wildfire. Cake Wrecks started as a blog that featured photos of professionally made cakes gone wrong, now it’s it’s a book available in book stores and on Amazon for less than $10.

Why Cake Wrecks works

You may be wondering how someone could make money on a book that costs less than the fees on faxless payday loans, but I think the Cake Wrecks book will be a huge hit. Photos of cakes gone wrong make for a perfect coffee table book. I can definitely picture groups of people who read the New York Times socializing on a cushy sofa and laughing at a photo of a cake that says “Happy Birthday Chris in Orange.”

I am a sucker for the Cake Wrecks that involve wording issues like Chris’s cake, which had only blue decorative icing. However, a lot of the cakes gone wrong are just concoctions that blog/book author Jen Yates finds “unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate — you name it.” I have seen the first section of the Cake Wrecks book, though, and I couldn’t help laughing out loud when I saw the photo of the cake that said the words “I want sprinkles” on it in purple icing.

The circle of cakes

So a blog spawned a book, a book spawned an article, and the article has inspired many to check out the blog and buy the book. I guess books and newspapers aren’t obsolete yet.

Check out photos of cakes gone wrong, including a sweet little number that says “Well come home” and an anniversary cake wishing the couple “the fist of many to come,” at Cake Wrecks. I recommend starting with “Literal LOLs,” and be forewarned that some of the cakes in the “Do you see what I see?” category are a tad alarming, in a bad-frat-party joke sort of way.

Bobby Campo stars in "The Final Destination." What a very proud day for him. Image from www.collider.com.

Horror movie lovers might be pleased with the new offerings available this weekend at the box office, but they will be the only ones. Movie critics certainly are not impressed. People who take out faxless payday loans to see either of the two new horror movies might have a screw loose.

Widespread releases this weekend include two horror movie sequels, “Halloween 2″ and “The Final Destination.” Some people choose to refer to the latter as “Final Destination 4,” even though the movie’s title is so clearly different from the first installation of this horrible — I mean horror — series by the word “the.” What were these people thinking? I think a better title would be “A More Finaler Destination,” so as to connote the intelligence level of the film.

I’m sure no one wants to hear more about my opinion on the ” The Final Destination,” but how about this guy’s?

Mike Scott, Times-Picayune

There are chiefly two kinds of people who will show up to see “The Final Destination” when it opens today (Aug. 28). First, there are those who were extras, or know people who were extras, when the horror sequel shot in town last summer, and who are dying to see a familiar face onscreen.

Then there are those who are dying to see those people dying, via decapitation, dismemberment, disembowelment, extrusion through a fence or varied other forms of creative carnage. … “The Final Destination” has little more to offer. The characters aren’t fully formed enough to care about, the humor is baseball-bat dull, and the story – such as it is – is never treated as anything more than a half-hearted means to get the audiences from one spectacular snuffing to the next.

‘Halloween 2′

Yes, it’s true, “Halloween 2″ has come out before — almost 30 years ago. So that would make this “Halloween 2 2″ or perhaps “Halloween 2 the Second.” But I guess these filmmakers aren’t into mocking themselves. At least not in their movie titles.

However, I have found someone else to mock this movie for them.

Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic

Whether you look upon it as a remake of a sequel or a sequel to a remake, Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II,” the continuation of his ugly, unnecessary and presumably profitable re-imagining of John Carpenter’s horror classic, is a repellent and incompetent monstrosity that should put to rest for good the weirdly persistent rumor that he has even a shred of talent as a filmmaker.

This time around, he retains all the elements that didn’t work the first time around (unlikable characters, self-conscious cameo appearances from cult personalities such as Margot Kidder, Howard Hessmann, Caroline Williams and yes, Weird Al Yankovic, murder sequences that are more interested in ramping up the sadism than in trying to create any actual suspense or terror and a grimy visual aesthetic that makes it look as if every scene was shot in a filthy gas station toilet) and then lards his bare-bones story.

Having somehow not died at the end of the first film, Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) returns to Haddonfield one year later to hunt down traumatized sister Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) and anyone who happens to walk into his limited field of vision — with mystical visions of Michael being guided by the spirits of his dead mother (Sherri Moon Zombie) and his younger self that seem to have been included solely to allow the stunningly untalented Mrs. Zombie to continue to appear in it.

Jaycee Lee Dugard pictures | Before the abduction (Photo: find-missing-children.org)

You’ve heard about the girl found after 18 years by now. Her name is Jaycee Lee Dugard, and photos of her as a child – before she was abducted – are all over the World Wide Web. The kidnapped girl is found; she had been abducted by Philip Garrido, the owner of a church called “God’s Desire” in Antioch, California.

It is frightening to contemplate what life must have been like for Jaycee Lee Dugard as she spent 18 years of her life in a shack in Philip Garrido’s back yard. His wife was aware this was going on and was a conspirator. While there, she bore two children to the sex offender. Now that Jaycee Lee Dugard is free, what will life be like for her children? They were born in that shack. This will be the first time they’re in the outside world. The two girls are 11 and 15 years old. They’ve never been to school or seen a doctor. I wish Jaycee Lee Dugard and her family the best during the difficult times ahead. As they adjust to the outside world, they will no doubt face tremendous challenges, both psychological and physical. I hope Jaycee will have the means to support herself and her daughters; her birth family may even be of help. If see finds herself in a short-term financial emergency somewhere down the road, she could choose faxless payday loans to help.

But first, Jaycee Lee Dugard goes to court

The Detroit Free Press reports (http://www.freep.com/article/20090828/NEWS07/90828007/1322/Hidden-away-18-years—woman-bore-kidnapper-s-children”) that Jaycee appears in court today to testify against her rapist jailor. Phillip Garrido, 58, is being held on kidnapping and sex charges. His wife Nancy Garrido has also been arrested. He was already a registered sex offender on federal parole for rape and kidnapping convictions. Yet parole agents who visited his home were unable to detect what was going on in his back yard.

A traumatic incident

When Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped in 1991, her stepfather Carl Probyn saw it happen from a distance but was unable to intervene in time.

“As soon as I saw the door fly open, the driver’s door, I jumped on my mountain bike and I tried to get to the top of the hill but I had no energy,” Probyn remembers. “I rode back down and yelled at my neighbor, 911!”

The stress of her disappearance broke up his marriage to Jaycee’s mother, but both are overjoyed at the reappearance of daughter unseen in 18 years and grandchildren they’d never met. Thankfully, they appear to be in good physical health.

“He’s had her longer than we had her,” Probyn told ABC. “We had her for 11 years. He had her for 18.”

Leaflets and a camping shower

Philip Garrido had apparently indoctrinated Jaycee Lee Dugard and her daughters into his make-believe religion that seemed to be centered on his ideas that a higher power spoke to him through a box, and that said box granted him powers of telepathy. He took this so seriously that he distributed self-published “literature” and was building a compound for him to preach his psychotic gospel. That compound is where Jaycee Lee Dugard and her daughters were being kept. Neighbors admitted to hearing kids playing in the yard, but they never saw them. If only they’d gotten involved, perhaps this could have broken years ago.

If only

The compound had electricity, an outhouse and a camping shower, which made it easier for Philip Garrido to keep them locked away. I certainly hope he never used faxless payday loans to build that place. While it is obvious that Garrido abused Jaycee Lee Dugard, investigations are currently underway as to whether he did the same to Dugard’s daughters. In addition to the allegations of kidnapping, court records indicate both Philip Garrido and his wife are being held while investigation into whether they committed “rape by force, lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and kidnapping someone under 14 with intent to rape” commence.

John Walsh helped spread word

Back when Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped in 1991, the television program “America’s Most Wanted” publicized the incident to a wider audience. Unfortunately, Philip Garrido was meticulous enough to conceal her for 18 years. All they really had to go on was a description of the vehicle he was driving when he abducted Jaycee Lee Dugard, as well as a composite sketch of what he looked like.

Oh, the burden is lifted!

Rather than keeping his mouth closed, Philip Garrido has the audacity to come out in the media and claim it’s a “relief” that he’s been captured by the police… because it was such a burden to maintain the ruse! Maybe you should have listened close to that box, rapist. Perhaps it could have led you into a different endeavor, like hopping inside and having someone bury you in the yard instead.

What is most important now is that Jaycee Lee Dugard has custody of her children and the opportunity to live real lives awaits them. That’s all a parent can ask for.

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Be a happy hippo with payday loans from Personal Money Store! (Photo: psotd.powerblogs.com)

Online-based no fax payday loans and easy payday loans connection site Personal Money Store is on a mission to be the only Web site that potential clients keep in mind when they’re in need of fast payday loans, payday cash loans, bad credit payday loans or other kinds of short term loans.

The company, boasting working relationships with a huge network of reputable lenders who have helped large numbers of consumers obtain the faxless payday loans, payday loans online, cheap payday loans, quick payday loans, instant payday loans and even payday loans for bad credit, is available anytime clients are in need of funds to tide them over until their next paydays.

We aren’t a lender… but we know them

It should be noted that Personal Money Store is not a lender of online payday loans, low fee payday loans, same day payday loans or installment loans, but rather a match making service of sorts, putting clients in touch with institutions who may be able to help them in their time of need.

The site, offering help obtaining installment payday loans and other kinds of payday advance loans is, quite possibly, one of the fastest in the business. The painless application takes just a few minutes to complete, with inquiries of a few simple things such as the applicant’s social security number, primary sources of steady income and other such things to verify their ability to comfortably repay their loan, should they be approved.

Don’t worry… it’s safe

Representatives of Personal Money Store want to ease potential clients’ fears right away, considering the increasing rate of cases of identity theft, especially online. They do this by assuring the client that should they come to the site in need of easy online payday loans or any other kinds of payday loans, the same up-to-date encryption technologies are utilized as online merchants who work very hard to keep their shoppers’ sensitive information out of harm’s way.

The best part about using the site, however, according to website representatives, is that should a customer be approved by one of the lenders that Personal Money Store has a great working relationship with, you just might have your money in your bank account quicker than you could have ever imagined. In fact, with some lenders, they have the ability to wire you your funds as soon as the end of the same day.

What are you waiting for?

If you are in need of easy online payday loans, you’ve come to the right place. We’re Personal Money Store, and we look forward to the opportunity to serve you!

There is a widespread misconception that the need for a payday loan arises out of poor financial planning. The fact remains that the best and the most meticulous of your plans can be undone when faced with tough times. As Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face.” Of course, this is not to say that you do not need well thought out and long term financial planning. The underlying point here is that payday loans will take the punches for you when all your plans fail.

How to plan your finances

Building and managing your personal finances requires a dedicated effort towards planning. Following are some ways in which you could effectively manage your finances in daily life:

• Look out for the best deals whenever you plan on buying something, be it car insurance, or an iPod. Spending a little extra time and energy on searching for better deals could save you a lot at the end of the day.
• Think twice before you buy anything on credit. Ask yourself if you really need this item now. Maybe putting off this purchase by a couple of months would save you some bucks.
• In case you really need that item urgently, just remember that credit card fees, account overdraft charges and penalties etc. are simply exorbitant and affect your credit score. A payday loan would be handy in such scenarios, knowing that it is cheaper and independent of your credit score.
• Plan a weekly or monthly budget that puts adequate emphasis on saving and then stick to it. Living for the moment doesn’t mean that you lose the long term perspective and start spending thoughtlessly. Even a payday loan does not give you the license to spend recklessly.
• Don’t put all your eggs in the same basket. Branch out your investments, both geographically and qualitatively. E.g. a nice branched out portfolio could include stocks cutting across various industries and domains, real estate, fixed term deposits, 401k savings, bonds etc.
• Do not procrastinate, you are never too young (or too old, for that matter) to start saving. One of the biggest reasons why we are facing the credit crunch is because decades of prosperity and growth have played havoc with our spending habits. We are spending more than we save and hence the result. This must change.

Role of Payday Loans

As I said at the beginning, well planned personal finances are not a sure shot guarantee against recession. In tough times when you need some cash quickly, a payday loan could be your savior. Online payday loans are easy and quick and do not typically require faxing. All you need to do is to fill an online form and your application could be approved in 20 minutes. The money could be yours in as quickly as 2 hours. These faxless payday loans make great sense for many reasons: Firstly they are quick, so you get the money when you need it and not a day after. Secondly, they are cheaper than other options like credit cards and account overdraft. Finally, if you plan a payday loan well, i.e. take only the amount that you need and spend it on things that you need urgently, then you can be sure that your next paycheck will take care of this loan.

So to conclude, proper financial planning and payday loans are together your best chance to come unscathed out of the recession.

Lobbying is a firmly entrenched arm of American politics and business in America. So long as there is balance between the interest groups within lobbying firms in key location like those of K Street in Washington, D.C., I can see them as a source for the change President Obama preaches. However, without that balance, there is clear and imminent danger of one special interest group (or political party’s) agenda being pushed at the expense of all others.

From the perspective of Personal Money Store, there needs to be forces balancing the anti-instant cash loan crowd. Shutting down competition in the free market contributes to collusion, which in turn leads to higher interest rates and consumer pricing on faxless payday loans and other products. However, I see balance in lobbying as a good thing. On the surface, that’s what the Republican Party claims it is trying to achieve with the K Street Project.

What is the K Street Project?

According to Sourcewatch, the K Street Project was undertaken in 1995 by the Republican Party to “pressure Washington lobbying firms to hire Republicans in top positions, and to reward loyal GOP lobbyists with access to influential officials.” Republican strategist Grover Norquist and former House majority leader Tom DeLay. Looking back, I’m sure the GOP would rather have had other, less controversial names attached to the K Street Project, but this is what they’ve got.

As I’ve said, K Street in Washington D.C. is a place where lobbying firms have put down roots. Some insightful individuals have even branded it the “fourth branch of government.” This fourth branch of government is essential to politicians, because they will actively request funds in exchange for use of their foot soldiers to trumpet their causes. Business interests will also use lobbyists to buy the support of politicians for legislation that best serves their interests.

Dangerous if one group has majority power

And K Street people aren’t people who have just fallen off the turnip truck. It has been customary for ex-politicians to be hired on as a means of maintaining the balance of power between parties. It is more “behind the scenes” than what you’ll see in the mainstream media, that’s for sure. But it is vitally important to the political functioning of America.

Balance is an ideal, but in practice, human beings tend to want to struggle for power. Most of the George W. Bush’s presidency featured Republican control of both houses, in addition to the White House. DeLay, Norquist and Senator Rick Santorum did whatever they could to pressure lobbying firms to hire only Republicans. This was their little scheme for the K Street Project.

But it didn’t quite work

According to the Washington Post in June 2004, “A review of job listings in Influence.biz, a lobbying newsletter, indicated that more than 40 percent of lobbyists with identifiable party backgrounds hired in the past six months have been Democrats. During the same period a year earlier, Democrats constituted only 30 percent of those hired.”

On July 1, 2004, the Post got it straight from the horse’s mouth when they tapped Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr. of Patton Boggs LLP to comment. Patton Boggs LLP is one of Washington’s largest lobbying-law firms, wrote the Post:

With Sen. John F. Kerry running neck and neck with President Bush in most polls and with the outlook for the Senate a tossup, a wide range of interest groups are filling some of their lobbying and public relations openings with Democrats – just in case the center of influence switches. There is some bet-hedging going on that wasn’t going on a year and a half ago.

But it was still Republican

In 2004, retiring Republican Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn – who interviewed with 15 firms – said the K Street Project was necessary. “The current GOP bias is needed to balance a long period of Democratic bias, when the Dems enjoyed House majority party status for 40 years,” she said. “K Street is still only 30 percent Republican, so there’s a lot more work to do to make it even.”

Now fast forward to the present. It is alleged that Democrats are running a K Street Project of their own. They want that instant cash and those faxless payday loans flowing in the “left” direction. The Hill blog reports that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has denied that there is any coordinated effort to pressure lobbyist firms to hire Democrats. Because that would be unseemly, wouldn’t it? Hoyer wouldn’t dare admit to borrowing from the Republican playbook.

“There is no K Street Project,” he said. And Elvis is alive and well.

I mean Elvis “Toast” Patterson, former San Diego Chargers corner, of course

Since the Democrats control both houses of Congress currently, it would only be natural for them to want to smack down on lobbyist firms. A K Street Project would be business as usual. It’s necessary, as necessary as faxless payday loans and instant cash are to the small consumer loan market. Once those are toast, no K Street Project will save the country from banks gone wild in the absence of competition.

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If you’ve seen the Michael Moore documentary “Sicko,” you’ve seen a vision of an American healthcare system in crisis. Dominated by bureaucracy, people die waiting for approval of life-saving surgeries. I’m reminded of Sean Hannity, foaming at the mouth over the prospect of socialized medicine: “You know, if you go to Canada, you’ll see! Nobody gets the surgeries they need because the lines are too long! Go there and die, liberal dogs!”

Or something like that. Yet when you live in a country where it takes faxless payday loans for the instant cash to bribe the desk clerk to even get you into the ER if you didn’t enter with your head in your hands, “Sleepy Hollow”-style… you know there’s something wrong.

That’s why the Nemenhah Tribe sends them to Mexico

The laws are much more wiggle room when it comes to “untested” medical treatments. That’s why Billy Best fled there in 1995; that may very well be where Daniel Hauser is headed now, in case the police are wondering. Hauser – possibly Best – are members of the Nemenhah Tribe.

Now reports indicate that law enforcement believes Colleen Hauser and her son Daniel may indeed by on the way to Mexico, but not via Texas as Billy Best attempted. They may be looking to pass through San Diego and over the border into Tijuana.

As the national media and I have been reporting, 13-year-old Daniel Hauser has Hodgkin’s lymphoma. There is a tumor growing in his chest for which a Minnesota court has ordered chemotherapy treatment. Instead of heeding the order, Colleen and Daniel Hauser have disappeared, and Billy Best may have been involved.

Turning a Sleepy Eye toward reason

Police officials from Daniel Hauser’s hometown of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, believe the boy may be planning to meet in Mexico with members of the Nemenhah Tribe at a clinic for alternative treatment that may or may not involve the herbal remedy essiac. Speaking for her son’s beliefs before their disappearance, Colleen Hauser said that introducing toxic substances into the body – which is exactly what chemotherapy does – is against their religion.

Mrs. Hauser, I urge you to make your medical decisions based upon scientific evidence. Religion has no scientific brain to stand on, and faith by its very definition is based upon belief in “things unseen.” Decide as a logical, thinking human being. If essiac works – and there is anecdotal evidence that it does - then choose as your mind dictates. Teach your son how to make well-informed decisions.

Cloudpiler: aka Runs with the Felons

Phillip “Cloudpiler” Landis probably has a hand in this. He founded the Nemenhah Tribe about 10 years ago. According to the AP, he refers to himself as a medicine chief. So long as initiates pay $250 to join and a $100 annual fee, they too can enjoy the kind of treatments Landis used to supposedly cure his own cancer: diet, herbs and time in a sweat lodge. Native American groups bristle at the mention of this man and his smorgasbord sampling of the native traditions that tickled his fancy.

Oh, Mexico – it sounds so simple

Web sites like Alternative-Cancer.net say that laws in Mexico make alternative clinics that have sprung up there particularly attractive to Americans who desire treatments they can’t get en los Estados Unidos. Unfortunately, these treatments aren’t always scientifically proven to work. In addition to diet, high heat and herbal remedies that attempt to “train the immune system” to fight off cancer – treatments favored by the Nemenhah Tribe – Mexican clinics also favor various oxygen therapies.

Drs. Fine and Howard, taking a break

Alternative-Cancer.net claims that Tijuana clinics vary in size range from one-man to full-on hospitals. In theory, the doctors there know how to “use conventional and alternative therapies together” because of the more forgiving regulations. Supposedly they also know which alternative treatments are best for which maladies. I can’t attest to their training, but I’d bet faxless payday loans and instant cash that I wouldn’t seek out their services. But others should have the freedom to do so if they wish, including Daniel Hauser of the Nemenhah Tribe.

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Memorial Day, which always falls on the last Monday in May, is for honoring women and men who died while serving in the military.

It just so happens that the day set aside for decorating graves and mourning the loss of individuals who died for our country falls right about when the weather is getting really good. So this day of mourning and remembrance generally takes the shape of barbecues, picnics and other outdoor activities.

Here are some recipes from $5 Dinners that will keep costs down for Memorial Day this year, so y9ou don’t have to get faxless payday loans to pay for groceries.

Cheeseburgers and Salad

Ingredients
4 Burger Patties
4 Buns
4 Cheese Slices
Ketchup/Mustard
“Almost Cobb” Side Salad
3 Corn ears
Watermelon Slices

Directions
1. Grill Burger patties and top with cheese as they finish grilling. Serve on “grill toasted” bun with condiments of your choice.
2. Boil or grill corncobs. Serve with salad, watermelon and burgers!

“Almost Cobb” Salad

Ingredients
Shredded chicken
Lettuce Head
3 hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 tomato, diced
1 cucumber, diced
Dressing
Grands Biscuits

Directions
1. Cook chicken, shred.
2. Cut lettuce with lettuce knife to prevent browning.
3. Dice tomatoes, cucumber and hard boiled eggs. Toss with the lettuce and chicken. Add dressing.
4. Serve with warm homemade rolls or biscuits

Raspberry Barbecue Chicken

This recipe, which is perfect for Memorial Day with its mixture of summery fruit flavors and grillable protein, is referenced on $5 Dinners, but the ingredients are posted on MyRecipes.com.

1. The application process is quick and effortless;
2. There are typically no credit checks (i.e., you are not put through the “harrowing” experience of submitting your bank statement in order to receive an approval);
3. The Payday loan lender will not ask for specific employment references for verification in order for you to qualify for the payday loan;
4. Repayment of the loan is a very simple process.

In order to qualify for a Direct Deposit Payday Loan three items are usually essential

1. You will need a checking account that is active;
2. You need to be at least eighteen years of age; and,
3. You will need current contact information.

Of course these are general requirements and other requirements may be necessary with regard to the (individual) lender. Direct deposit payday loans are limited as to the amount you may borrow. Keep in mind the range you may borrow with regard to a direct deposit payday loan is typically between $100 and $1,500. The period of the loan usually extends from a two week to a four week period.

The direct deposit payday loan is the ideal solution with regard to the following circumstances:

1. Short-term emergencies when cash is not readily available; and,
2. When you are between paychecks, yet gainfully employed.

Therefore, if you need emergency cash and are able to fulfill the terms of a payday loan agreement, all that is necessary is for you to apply online or over the phone. The process of application is simple and convenient and usually takes a matter of a few minutes.

Also it is important that you repay your payday loan back on time and in accordance with your agreement as it may be a remedy for you whenever you need emergency cash. Paying your payday loan back in a timely fashion gives the lender confidence you will do so in the future and thus he or she is much more likely to extend to you an additional loan whenever you may need one.

Faxless Payday loans are great for those who prefer “no-doc” short term loans

Another form of payday loan is the faxless payday loan. Generally, when using the faxless payday loan option, the borrower does not need to provide the payday loan lender with any of the following documents:

1. A driver’s license;
2. A birth certificate; or
3. A Pay stub.

Additionally the Faxless payday loan offers a very quick approval process—sometimes within an hour of application.

How the Faxless Payday Loan Option works

An individual without access to a fax machine may find the direct deposit payday loan option inconvenient or time-consuming: meaning the borrower may need to drive to another location in order to fax paperwork.

The Faxless payday loan removes the additional step of faxing documents.

Following are basic requirements when applying for a faxless payday loan. Upon the loan application the borrower will need to answer questions with regard to:

1. Citizenship;
2. Age;
3. Residence;
4. Employment and Income; and,
5. Acknowledge the existence of an active bank account.

The faxless payday loan lender will not “employ” credit checking as a form of verification in regard to loan approval. The borrower will need to apply for a faxless payday loan within the country he or she is a resident. The benefits of a faxless payday loan are numerous.

A faxless payday loan allows the borrower:

1. Ease of application as the necessity to fax documentation is eliminated;
2. The use of the money is not defined by the payday loan lender; and,
3. It is a venue of which a borrower may rely in resolving a short-tem financial crisis or emergency

In conclusion, for individuals needing almost instantaneous access to cash funds without the additional step of faxing, certainly faxless payday loans are a worthwhile payday loan option.

The direct deposit cash payday loan is also a good consideration and may be just as readily attainable as the faxless payday loan when access to a fax machine is not an issue (in receiving the payday loan).

Whatever your set of financial circumstances or reasons for applying for a payday loan, it is always good to know you have options.

Apply for Direct Deposit Payday Loans HERE!

If certain groups in Ontario have their way, a payday loan would be as hard to come by as honest bank CEOs… right?

Recently, the Center For Responsible Lending or a similar “self-interest” group sat Ontario’s Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) down in its lap and made its mouth move. The dummy spoke, and anti-payday loan rhetoric came oozing out like bad peanut butter.

Rash decisions cause economic rash

CNW Group writes in a press release that the PIAC has taken it upon themselves to condemn the Ontario Maximum Total Cost of Borrowing Advisory Board’s currently proposed cash advance rate as “astronomically high.” They claim that the proposed $21 per $100 loaned rate takes advantage of “most vulnerable” consumers. It is my hope that reasonable discourse and exchange of opinion occurs, rather than a rash decision like the one recently made by Manitoba government to cap payday loans, despite their court’s ruling to the contrary.

PIAC legal Counsel John Lawford says that the advisory board’s report “proposes not only burying Ontario’s most needy and vulnerable consumers under new mounds of debt but has picked out the most expensive casket for them.” This is rhetoric without basis in fact, sir. Please do your research. I’ll get you started with a study on your own countrymen.

I say we help John Lawford out… he seems confused

Next, Lawford plays the broken record of “astronomical” APR rates. Faxless payday loans are not annual loans and you are misleading your constituency. Take a look, please.

If you’d like to encourage Mr. Lawford to further his payday loan research, he asks for calls and mail at the following: John Lawford, Counsel, Public Interest Advocacy Centre, ONE Nicholas Street, Suite 1204, Ottawa, ON, K1N 7B7, (613)  62-4002 x 25 (Tel), (613) 562-0007 (Fax). Help him out, people.

Related articles

• Media Advisory: Canadian Payday Loan Association Available for Comment on the Government of Ontario’s Advisory Board Report on Payday Loan Rates (newswire.ca)
• Board says Ontario should put cap on payday loans (ctv.ca)
• Cap payday loan costs, board urges (thestar.com)

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• About Personal Money Store (personalmoneystore.com)

Payday loans help people from all walks of life through little emergencies with extra cash. In a certain sense, there’s a populist tinge to them. Big banks want to take the average person’s financial choice away, while companies like payday lenders offer a bridge to short-term financial empowerment. It’s just one reason that the product has been as popular as it has, particularly in difficult times.

In the corporate world, a populist-style view is very rare. However, as Rick Newman of U.S. News and World Report shows us, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings may just be one of those rare exceptions. Newman reports that Hastings’ recent New York Times op-ed piece goes after the “big government” approach President Obama is taking with capping CEO salaries. He calls it “a terrible idea,” but he does recognize the need for change.

So what does he propose? “Tax me!” he says. Or anyone else who earns over $1 million – AT 50 PERCENT.

Care to explain, Mr. Hastings?

“Some will tell you that would reduce the incentive to earn but I don’t see that as likely. Besides, half of a giant compensation package is still pretty huge, and most of our motivation is the sheer challenge of the job anyway,” he says.

What a message! Is it true the Hastings isn’t motivated solely by the money, as it would appear? It may be so. Faxless payday loan companies aren’t turning obscene profits, but thousands continue to campaign in their favor. Not only for their jobs, but for the values of financial self-determination and a free market. Hastings certainly knows – as Newman puts it – that

it’s more important than ever to form an emotional bond with your customer. That was true before Wall Street cratered, because the Internet has enhanced accountability and knocked down barriers between the people at the top of the food chain and the people at the bottom. It’s even more true now, as titans like Citigroup and General Motors and Bernie Madoff topple and the little guy gets revenge. Or at least a hearing.

The little guy’s revenge

If there were more CEOs like Reed Hastings, perhaps the public perception of the corporate world – that of greed – would change somewhat. If nothing else, that could certainly help foster an environment where trust and fair competition would reign. For the average person or even the upper class consumer who depends upon payday loans in a pickle, a bit more reason to trust the financial institutions that have tried to take away choice and monopolize the market would be planted in the soil.

The Associated Press reports from Toronto that an “independent advisory board” is advising that Ontario’s government should cap the cost of payday loans at $21 for every $100 loaned. If this were to become law, it would join the current consumer protections provided by the Payday Loans Act of 2008. The act was praised by officials like Minister of Government and Consumer Services Ted McMeekin as “yet another important step the government is taking to protect Ontario consumers.” Two years following passage, the limit would be up for review again.

Faxless payday loans do not “gouge”

The independent board acknowledges that faxless payday loans are designed as “small, short-term loans,” and that the cash advance industry that provides them is not earning excessive profits. It is a reputable industry that lends to Ontario customers who are employed and able to repay their debts. They simply feel that the $21 cap would be beneficial to consumers while remaining profitable for lenders.

This runs counter to the critical opinion that no fax payday loan companies “gouge” consumers with high annual percentage rate interest. It should always be mentioned, however, that payday loans are not annual loans. As they are typically repaid in their two-week period, the interest rates bandied about by critics is deceptive and self-serving.

Moreover, the AP story states that “anti-poverty groups and political parties have accused the industry of preying on transients and people who live in low-income neighborhoods.” Since the unemployed cannot take out payday loans, the first assumption is disproven, while ample evidence suggests that payday loan customers aren’t “low income” at all.

Do more research on payday loans, Ontario

Cash Advance Mojo feels that a $21 cap is reasonable for most businesses who give payday loans, but not all. Further research into how well that supports the business model of stores in the region is necessary, as discounting that can easily lead to layoffs and store closures. No city, state, province or country needs to contribute to unemployment in the current world economy.

Related articles

• Media Advisory: Canadian Payday Loan Association Available for Comment on the Government of Ontario’s Advisory Board Report on Payday Loan Rates (newswire.ca)
• `Full steam ahead,’ minister says (thestar.com)
• Payday loan company can settle class-action lawsuit (ctv.ca)

For payday loan customers you know and those you just haven’t met yet, listen up. Now’s the time of year when people are thinking about their tax returns. Considering how difficult the economy has been lately, they’re also thinking about how they’re going to stretch between paychecks after the car finally breaks down. Some might think that tax refund loans are a good idea simply because it’s tax season, but you know better. Payday loans are MUCH cheaper; you don’t need the expense of tax refund loans right now. Factor in that the stimulus check amount that will be taken away from your tax refund this year to begin with, and you have something to scream about. But not if you use faxless payday loans in a pinch.

Tax refund loans? Just say “nay”

Ed Brayton of the Michigan Messenger writes that Michigan wants to crack down on tax refund loans. A bill has been introduced in the state legislature that would not only require full disclosure of loan terms, but also of alternatives. Bill sponsor Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) calls tax refund loans “loans riddled with interest rates and hidden fees. By regulating RALs to include strong disclosure, taxpayers in Michigan will be able to make informed decisions when applying.”

Tale of the bill

Here’s what would be required of tax refund loans in Michigan if Tlaib’s bill passes:

• All interest, fees and hidden costs fully disclosed
• Clear language stating they’re loans, not refunds
• That the taxpayer can file electronically without applying for a tax refund loan
• Stating how long it might take for the government to process refunds
• That there’s no guarantee the refund will be as the consumer estimate
• That the taxpayer is responsible if there’s a difference not in their favor

So in addition to being more expensive than payday loans, it should be clear that tax refund loans are speculative. If you mess up on your return, you could owe a healthy sum. All told, are they worth the trouble if you need emergency cash and payday loans are easy to apply for through sites like Personal Money Store?

If you need assistance with tax trouble click tax resolution/settlement.

In difficult economic times, a payday loan can be a comfort. If your paycheck falls just a bit short of covering your necessary expenses, emergency cash can bridge the gap until your next pay period. Christian Coley of eFluxMedia brings our attention to a frightening development that affects anyone who consumes low-cost food.

As a sweetening agent, few bargain (non-organic) foods are free of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It’s addictive, and it is added unnecessarily to almost everything. The substance has been linked to increased obesity. Now it may be responsible for brain, heart, lung, kidney and immune system disorders (not to mention death), thanks to the discovery of mercury in HFCS.

Mercury… everywhere

According to Coley, nearly half of tested HFCS samples from commercial foods contained mercury in two recent major U.S. studies, the first published in a recent issue of Environment Health and the other conducted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). The first study found detectable mercury in nine of 20 commercial samples of HFCS, while the second found that one in three of 55 studied brand-name foods contained the toxic substance.

HFCS usually replaces sugar as a sweetener because it is cheaper to use. Based upon a diet of mostly non-organic foods, Americans consume around 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, but this was shown to range as high as 80 percent among groups like teenagers. They are consuming mercury, which is a poisonous substance. The Food and Drug Administration must act immediately; food manufacturers who continue to use HFCS should face criminal prosecution. This is something state and federal government should pay attention to, rather than hurting consumers by cracking down on faxless payday loans.

Someone objects to the studies…

That would be the Corn Refiners Association, who says that the studies are outdated. They claim the industry is using a mercury-free version of HFCS now, which does not include the caustic soda ingredient that is made from mercury cells. Your payday loan source hope the truth comes out soon, before one more child is born autistic, with Down’s Syndrome or a deformity. Before anyone else has to die so that food manufacturers can continue to turn a profit.

Related articles

• Studies find mercury in much U.S. corn syrup (msnbc.msn.com)
• I mean, who doesn’t like a little mercury in their high fructose corn syrup? (americablog.com)
• HFCS is even worse thanks to … mercury (gabriellacoleman.org)

Like a payday loan, it’s something tangible.

The L.A. Times‘ Mark Silva reports that President Obama has ordered the creation of a “White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families” and legislation that will strengthen labor unions. Vice President Biden will be in charge of the task force. This comes none too soon, as America’s gross domestic product sank 3.8 percent in the final quarter of 2008. “This is a continuing disaster for America’s families,” said the President. Mr. Obama’s definition of “middle class” also includes those who aspire to be a part of the middle class.

Closely related to the $800-billion-plus economic stimulus plan, Mr. Obama’s task force for the middle class will help to combat the growing joblessness that he describes as “the American dream in reverse.” The goal of the task force will be to rebuild roads and schools, double the country’s alternative (“green”) energy production and update the healthcare industry. All of these ventures will create jobs “for years to come.” Hopefully, the President will not cap faxless payday loans at 36 percent annually, because that would take away jobs for years to come.

A strong online presence

Keeping with his belief that government should be transparent and easily accessible, President Obama will promote the task force with a Web site called AStrongMiddleClass.gov. All work completed by the Biden-led committee will be documented on the site. The goals Obama hopes to achieve with the Web site is to show the public how government is “expanding education and lifelong training opportunities, improving work and family balance, restoring labor standards, including workplace safety, helping to protect middle-class and working-family incomes and protecting retirement security.” Your payday loan will be keeping a curious eye on the President’s task force to see how his promise of help for middle-class America will be fulfilled.

Related articles

• What Role Will Joe Biden Play in the Obama administration? (usnews.com)
• Historic Victory for Working Families (ufcwblog.blogspot.com)

Inquiring minds want to know: have you heard about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland, and can it swallow the Earth entire, payday loans included?

Researcher Solmaz Barazesh of Penn State strives to put such fears to rest in the article “Probing Question: Could the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) swallow the Earth?” on PhysOrg.com.

It took $8.8 billion to build the LHC, a machine that is designed to test theories on high-energy physics. It does this by smashing proton beams together at ridiculously high speeds.

What’s the worry here? Accelerating particles at up to 99.99 percent the speed of light (which creates temperatures in range of trillions of degrees) — has the potential to create a black hole that could consume the Earth. Thus, lawsuits have been filed to stop the LHC project from continuing. Yet judges have dismissed such lawsuits. Claims of the danger were overblown; Hadron Colliders don’t cause black holes and faxless payday loans don’t cause the financial black hole known as bankruptcy.

We don’t have to worry

Physics Professor Stéphane Coutu of Penn State says “absolutely not.” He elaborated:

The world is constantly bombarded by energetic cosmic rays from the depths of space, some of them inducing particle collisions thousands of times more powerful than those that will be produced by the LHC. If these collisions could create black holes, it would have happened by now.

Honestly, the media has fueled the non-science bonfire of insecurity. How can we pass up the chance to learn from this milestone in particle physics? “The end product of the particle collisions could provide new insight into how particles interact—ultimately, this could explain the outcome of particle processes shortly after the Big Bang,” said Coutu.

Perhaps the LHC will enable humankind to learn more about the universe and its origins. As Coutu concluded, “It is hard to imagine anything more fundamental as an example of human pursuit of pure knowledge.” Similarly, financial self-determination – how we spend our money, whether we use payday loans during short-term financial crisis – is equally fundamental.

Related articles

• LHC may not be as safe as we thought (vnunet.com)
• Trip to the Large Hadron Collider (milkandcookies.com)
• Large Hadron Collider prepared for June restart (telegraph.co.uk)

Once again, the United States has broken its own record, this time in the unemployment category.

Personal Money Store provides you with faxless payday loans and details on the deepening recession.

The United States continues to reach for greatness, setting new records and leaving the old ones in the dust. Unfortunately, these “triumphs” are in the “highest number of unemployed workers” and “lowest number of homes sold” categories.

Now more unemployed than ever!

Unemployment claims in the U.S. hit a record peak in mid-January. Last week 588,000 new claims were filed for unemployment insurance, the highest number ever recorded. Records date back to 1967. The number of people who continued collecting unemployment during the week of Jan. 17 after filing the previous week was 4.78 million.

I guess Americans don’t have to make a choice anymore when faced with the old saying “Go big or go home.” When it comes to unemployment, they’re doing both. Check out your faxless payday loans store’s daily update on big layoffs.

Home purchases take big nosedive

Despite all the efforts to rescue the housing market, new home sales plunged 14.7 percent in December, another record. December marked the slowest home sales in the United States since 1963, when the data started being recorded.

Overall sales in 2008 fell just short of record-breaking lows. Builders sold 482,000 homes for the entire year. That’s the lowest number of new homes sold since 1982, when the economy scored well in the “dismal home sales” category with 412,000 sales.

Sticking to it

It looks like the U.S. economy will continue its record-breaking performance  for some time. In fact, according to Forbes.com “There is no end in sight.” Michael Darda, chief economist at MKM Partners in Greenwich Connecticut, is slightly more optimistic.

“I don’t think we are going to see a recovery until 2010. It’s possible the economy can bottom sometime in the fall or the winter, but it will be pretty rough sailing ahead, especially for the next quarter or two,” Darda said.

Michael Darda

Not very cheerful news, but it’s better than “no end in sight.”

Your faxless payday loans site does not encourage gambling, but if you are going to do it anyway, now would be a good time to bet on more record-breaking performance in the U.S. economy.

Your faxless payday loans store keeps you updated on the state of the economy.

Well, America, now it’s really getting bad. Starbucks Coffee Company, the corporate giant that got millions addicted to a daily dose of espresso, is going to cut 6,700 jobs. The company’s first quarter earnings fell an astounding 69 percent. I guess Starbucks coffee can officially be deemed a luxury item. When the going got tough, people found that maybe they didn’t need it after all.

The job cuts will affect 6,000 staff positions and 700 corporate jobs. The company will also close an additional 300 stores on top of the closings that were previously planned. The new cuts will shut down 200 stores in the United States and 100 overseas. Click here to read yesterday’s jobs update from your faxless payday loans store.

Education in the Big Apple

In New York, one of the most populated areas in the United States, the Department of Education is facing a crisis. New York Schools Chancellor Joel says the system is in dire need of state aid. Without it, Klein says, the department might need to lay off 15,000 educators.

Governor Paterson has already drawn up the state budget, but Klein says that as the budget stands, schools would be taking a $1.4 billion cut. That translates into cutting 18 percent from every school’s budget. The cuts could come as soon as this school year.

Departing flights

Aerospace giant Boeing Co. says it will slash 10,000 jobs from its commercial airplane unit. That amounts to about 6 percent of its work force. The layoffs are the result of impending production cuts.

“We are also expecting pressure on defense budgets in light of the economic recovery and financial-rescue packages,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Jim McNerney.

Thanks for visiting Personal Money Store, your one-stop shop for economic news and faxless payday loans.

Albuquerque, New Mexico’s KOB Eyewitness News 4 reports that the state legislature is looking at three new bills that would bring constraints upon payday loans. Politicians who spend excessive amounts of time worrying about regulations for things that actually serve the public interest are apparently convinced that no fax payday loans reap excessive profits. Since they are excessively concerned with getting their cut, they side with banks and credit unions against the product.

Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, for lack of something more productive to do, has determined that she must chase after tax refund loans, car and mortgage and payday loans with “interest rates as high as 1,000 percent.” These loans typically cost $15 per $100 loaned. That is a flat 15 percent fee. In what excessive universe does that equal 1,000 percent, Ms. Denish?

“We must make certain that we protect every aspect from purchasing homes to those who are the most vulnerable who are trying to put up their cars as collateral so they can make ends meet,” said Representative Al Park, D-Albuquerque.

Payday loans are excessively simple, fast and discreet. Moreover, they are NOT excessively expensive. What is New Mexico’s main problem?

Show me the research, because your numbers on the payday loan are officially ignorant. While you’re looking for those numbers that may or may not exist, I’ll direct readers to parts one and two of this article on Ohio and loss of financial sanity.

Pat O’Bryan, who is the director of the Catholic Commission of Wayne, Ashland and Medina counties, wants to sound authoritative. He really does. Through the huffing and puffing, he wants us to truly believe that 97 percent of Ohioans who used payday loans couldn’t make the first payment. He would have us believe that the thoroughly defeated, downtrodden then went to a different company to pay off the first loan.

Wait, back up. Ninety-seven percent?!

Somebody is mistaken, looking through rose-colored glasses, or both. Faxless payday loans are a legitimate business that is required to make all fees and terms known up front before a customer signs a contract. If 90 percent of customers pay on time, it would be easily verifiable. If asked, Check Into Cash could provide access to pertinent data. Where’s O’Bryan’s info coming from?

The biggest problem with O’Bryan’s position is made clear when he says that he “feels bad that people have lost their jobs. ” He wonders how “you keep an unjust situation going to justify jobs and keep (in)justice going?” I would first answer this by saying that no fax payday loans are a legitimate business. Second, I’d drive home the point that keeping people in their legitimate jobs rather than kicking them to the curb during a deep recession is essential; playing out your pointless moral/logical fallacy argument is destructive. Or, in parlance people like O’Bryan can understand… the payday loan would be a sin. Ridiculous, yes? Read on, there’s MORE IN PART FOUR.

This is part two. If you missed part one of this payday loan defense, click HERE.

We already know that payday loans are not annual loans. Kindel does too. Cashland provides loans for periods of 14 to 30 days maximum, and only $15 is charged per $100 loaned. That does not equal a 391 percent interest charge; it doesn’t come anywhere near. Misinformed government group-think – “Oh, the blanket application of TILA is the way to go, even though faxless payday loans didn’t exist in 1968 when the law was written!” – smacks of ignorance. This may seem like business as usual. Yet it isn’t right to apply an outdated law to a relatively new industry. To widen this example, is this what the framers of the constitution had in mind when they granted “the right to bear arms?” Could they have even conceived that such a thing as this would happen?

It doesn’t make sense

Lisa Ferguson agrees. “We’re talking about a two-week loan. You can’t take the loan out for a year. To attach (an) APR (annual percentage rate) doesn’t make sense.” She also claims that 90 percent of Check Into Cash’s customers pay their loans on time, and those who don’t are worked into an extended payment program. They cannot take a loan from that store to pay for a previous loan from that store.

If government in Ohio is so concerned about the tiny minority of people who go to different quick payday loan companies to pay off loans, then perhaps regulation should be enforced that creates a national database to prevent consumers from having multiple payday loans at the same time. That would have nothing to do with capping interest rates, which puts people out of work and sends consumers to more dangerous options like checking overdraft. For more on the payday loan fight in Ohio, continue reading HERE.

The common complaint about payday loans from pseudo-reputable special interest organizations like the Center For Responsible Lending (CRL) is that it traps borrowers in a “cycle of debt” that leads toward inevitable bankruptcy. Clearly the subprime mortgage-backed organization did little actual research (their few “studies” are done largely in-house, reflecting complete bias), because numerous independent studies exist that show that their claim against the payday loan industry is without merit.

The most recent of such independent studies disproving the CRL’s claims is a study by Petru Stoianovici (from The Brattle Group) and Professor Michael Maloney of Clemson University. “Restrictions on Credit: A Public Policy Analysis of Payday Lending” proves that there is “no empirical evidence that payday lending leads to more bankruptcy filings; this finding casts doubt on the ‘cycle of debt’ argument against payday lending.” In addition to their own findings, Stoianovici and Maloney review a large sampling of current academic literature that supports their findings and further suggests that payday loan critics consistently operate in the realm of hearsay, rather than presenting supported arguments of any consequence.

Good customers and competition

Stoianovici and Maloney use state-level data collected between 1990 and 2006 in their study, with a particular focus on areas with faxless payday loan storefronts. From state to state, payday loan regulation varied greatly, from states like Delaware with no restrictions to those where the loans are banned completely (Georgia).

One common thread from state to state in their study is that lenders screened their applicants. Whether or not traditional credit reporting avenues were used, past financial behavior was taken into account. According to Skiba and Tobacman’s 2007 payday loan study, about 20 percent of applicants are rejected, and the rate of loan default is small (65 percent of what is found with credit cards, per Chessin’s 2005 study that the authors cite). Thus, the argument that lenders prey on helpless consumers is in doubt. These are people who can repay their debts. Borrowers who (according to the study authors) have relatively low probabilities to default are also harmed by payday loan restrictions, due to higher charges. In general, the authors find that restrictions harm the average loan customer.

Further, Stoianovici, Maloney and numerous researchers make the claim that restricting no fax payday loans makes it much more difficult for consumers to handle emergency expenses. Adair Morse argues in a 2007 study that the unnecessary restrictions against the loan product presents a barrier for consumers, in the sense that competition is eliminated in the short-term credit market. Prices for what remains are exceedingly high. Where payday loans remain, according to Morse, consumers benefit.

Easy to understand, easy to repay

Much has been said of regulating payday loans so that consumers can easily see and understand what they’re signing up for. However, these regulations are already being followed. It is as if impressionable government regulators take the CRL’s word without proof. If they looked at the industry, they’d see that consumer protections are already in place. Stoianovici and Maloney find the argument that payday loan terms are difficult to understand without merit; the loans are, in fact, very simple. Costs are listed up front, and if the borrower keeps up his end of the bargain to repay when the loan is due (typically after two weeks), all they repay is the principal balance and the typical $15 per $100 loaned. That’s it. If a “cycle of debt” culture were the norm, how could the supposedly resulting bankruptcies lead to payday loans being a profitable business?

As borrowers enter into payday loan contracts voluntarily and with full knowledge of how the loans work, it seems ridiculous to base an anti-loan argument on the grounds that people are victimized against their will or beyond their control. Paying interest and principal is agreed upon, and payday loan employees are more than willing to explain anything customers do not understand. Stoianovici, Maloney and others make a point of stating that people are not being forced into bankruptcy or any kind of financial distress by the loan product. If they are dishonest in their intentions of repaying a loan when it comes due, that is not the lender’s fault.

Profit and expense – too high?

But critics continue to make the bankruptcy connection. Regarding profitability, most critics claim that the faxless payday loan business is parasitic, that it depends upon hooking in the same “weak-willed” borrowers again and again. However, this is simply not the case. In multiple studies, such as the one by Flannery and Samolyk, payday loan store profitability depends on total volume, just as any other type of business would. Frequent borrowers are not a significant income source, which in turn suggests that rollovers are not as common as critics insist.

Regarding whether payday loans are too expensive, the authors point to studies like those by Huckstep. The loans are not too expensive. The high number of stores and significant operating costs, says Huckstep, are

relative to other lenders… payday loans are a product chosen mostly for convenience. Because of this, payday lenders compete in a local area and have a high density of stores, and keep those stores open beyond normal business hours (p. 210-1).

As demand for the product increases, the need to increase the number of stores and workers to meet the demand increases.  Stoianovici and Maloney find this to be consistent with collected data. For instance, Ace Cash Express “opened a store in Augusta, GA less than 1.8 miles away from another of its stores.” This was in response to the pre-ban need. Yet Georgia banned the loans anyway, despite the fact that doing so harms consumers. And if that doesn’t convince you, here’s another example for good measure.

Not as profitable as critics think

Stoianovici and Maloney continue on by citing more from Huckstep’s study. Specifically, he compares the profitability of payday loan stores versus large commercial lenders and the retail giant Starbucks (which has a similar business model to short-term lenders). Analyzing profit margin, Huckstep finds that payday lenders make less (7.63 percent) than both the commercial lenders (13.04 percent) and Starbucks (nine percent).

So how can it be argued that payday loans are predatory? According to Donald Morgan of the Federal Reserve, there is no logical argument that fits. Morgan does not find evidence that the presence of payday loan stores damages the financial well-being of consumers; default rates remain low. Stoianovici and Maloney clearly agree that this does not suggest that predatory lending is taking place.

Payday loans – the consumer’s choice

Authors Stoianovici and Maloney find no empirical evidence that payday loans lead to an increase in bankruptcy filings. The loans do not perpetuate a “cycle of debt.” Admittedly, despite full disclosure of terms and counseling available to customers before signing payday loan agreements, some will borrow beyond their means. This does result in higher finance charges, but this is an uncommon symptom of bad spending habits, not a factor that is inherent in the payday loan industry. It is clear that over-regulation that causes lenders to shut their doors not only puts people out of work, but harms the financial well-being of consumers. These consumers typically look to sources like checking overdraft to protect them when financial emergencies threaten their budget, yet it is unfortunate that this exceedingly profitable device is not in their best interests. Banks profit, consumers lose.

Obama to reform bankruptcy and family leave

The American economy is poised on the point of major collapse. Immediate action must be taken to change the current course, or the country’s current recession will spiral down into a major depression as it did 80 years ago.  Your payday loan source is hopeful that President Obama’s economic policies will right the ship.

This article, the concluding in a five-part series, covers Mr. Obama’s views on reforming bankruptcy laws and striking a needed balance between work and family life. For previous segments of this story, please see parts one, two, three and four.

Bankruptcy for the working class

Essentially, President Obama’s goal is to make the process of filing for bankruptcy easier for military families and victims of natural or medical disasters. If the person can prove they filed for medical reasons, Obama’s exemption would go into effect; they would be forgiven and have the chance to get back on their feet. Moreover, Obama wants to assist those filing for bankruptcy from having to lose their homes.

Mr. Obama’s bankruptcy policy does have a misstep in it regarding rate caps for payday loans at 36 percent annually. Of course your payday loan source admits some bias in the matter, but there are numerous independent parties that corroborate that capping no fax payday loan interest rates harms consumers, and that bankruptcy is not in fact caused by faxless payday loans themselves. His call for clear disclosure of lending terms is reasonable. His request that banks and credit unions offer short-term loan products to consumers sounds reasonable, but these institutions won’t do it. Why? Because forcing or tricking consumers into depending upon checking overdraft protection is much more lucrative for them.

Family matters most

Barack Obama is a family man himself, so he understands how easy it could be to lose track of what’s most important when working life’s demands weigh heavily. Through expanded programs, benefits and tax cuts, the President will strive to restore the kind of balance that leads to happier families – happier consumers – whose faith in saving and spending will be renewed by the increased quality time available. Here are some highlights:

• Obama plans to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act so that it will cover more people in more situations, including allowing for elderly care, participation in child academic functions and addressing situations where domestic violence is involved
• A $1.5 billion fund will assist states with paid leave and related programs
• Funding will be doubled for after school programs through organizations like the 21st Century Learning Centers program
• The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit will become refundable and allow low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for care expenses
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will be enforced so that workers with family care obligations will not be discriminated against
• Businesses will be encouraged to create more flexible work opportunities for those with family obligations; federal incentives for telecommuting will also be given. In order to model these ideals, President Obama vows that the government will utilize the same practices

Mr. President, start the healing now

The American economy has been riding along for some time with a driver that’s asleep at the wheel. President Obama doesn’t accept more of the same, so let’s see how his policies will work. The fixes are certainly not as easy as getting a payday loan, but like the popular short-term loan product, the principles must be sound.

With each passing day, payday loans become more popular with consumers in need of a temporary cash bump. And with each passing day, the flames surrounding the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) grow higher. Witness this recent story from the Credit Union Times‘ David Morrison. He reports in “Sandler Mortgage Lending Controversy Touches CRL” that the CRL is reeling from its association with Herbert Sandler’s subprime mortgage lending mess AND Martin Eakes and Self-Help Credit Union.

The New York Times turned up the heat in a recent piece on the Sandler’s that looked at the roots of America’s current financial crisis. The adjustable rate mortgages the Sandler’s offered definitely played a key role because borrowers were allowed to make payments that didn’t even cover interest. The Sandler’s called this “Pick-A-Pay,” which they offered through World Savings Bank. Once mortgage lending standards went slack, the writing was on the wall.

And that’s where the CRL made its money

Herbert Sandler once sat on the board of the CRL. The National Review reports that Sandler gave the CRL $20 million during mid-2007. Moreover, Sandler is a supporter of Marvin Eakes and Self-Help Credit Union, which fought hard to steal business from no fax payday loan companies via legal sanctions.

There has been speculation that Eakes was previously opposed to the controversial prepayment penalties written into mortgage contracts, but that Herb Sandler changed his mind. Did Sandler ply Mr. Eakes with cash? Whatever the case, critics say these penalties play no small role in keeping consumers trapped in debt. Let it be known, if you didn’t already know, that payday loans do not resemble this deadly weapon in any way, shape or form.

Not surprisingly, CRL spokespeople claim that they’ve been against prepayment penalties all along, but that they have “limited their opposition somewhat, as part of a compromise toward legislation mandating tougher public policy on prepayment penalties on subprime loans.”

Doubletalk, you say!

The CRL is planning to get tough on prepayment lending in subprime loans. Yet planning isn’t executing. Even though subprime loans made up a relatively small percentage of the mortgage loan diaspora, the penalties (and default rates) they carried were massive by comparison with the conventional majority. Sandler did not offer the Credit Union Times comment on the controversy.

There are a number of things about this situation that are truly extraordinary. Regarding payday loans, the Center For Responsible Lending has a lot of gall pointing the finger at these lenders as the culprit for consumer ruin when their own board members are deeply involved in one of the shadiest dealings with consumers in American history. There is massive traction in the arguments against them. May they go down in flames and move on to more honest employment. They could work in payday loan stores, for instance…

Denied!

But you're better off using payday loans

Kathy Chu reports in USA Today that American Express has grounded their domestic companion airline tickets program for Platinum and Centurion cardholders. Allegedly, customers weren’t using the program, says card spokeswoman Desiree Fish. JPMorgan Chase is tightening the screws. Even Discover is forcing customers to cough up their cash rewards if they don’t use their account for a while or miss a couple of payments.

This is the reason why many people even bother with credit cards – the rewards. Cash, airline tickets and other special discounts have been the bait of choice since the 1980s. Whatever it takes for credit card companies to get their hands on your money more often. Payday loans don’t have that kind of flash, but they are mercifully cheaper because they are not a gateway to compound interest and the true debt spiral.

Short-sighted?

According to Bankrate.com senior analyst Greg McBride, these cuts are not taking the best road toward long-term success. “You’re basically kicking customers to the front porch of competitors,” he says. Even though it could save companies like American Express as much as $1 billion in 2009.

And here’s what’s happening at Chase:

Consumers who got the Freedom credit card after Nov. 4 are receiving a 1% cash reward on most purchases and a 3% reward on promotional items, which regularly change. Before, the card provided a 3% automatic cash back on the categories in which consumers spent the most.

Not surprisingly, Chase spokeswoman Tanya Madison claims the rewards are “just as valuable” as before. Right. “Use it or lose it” is the message across the credit card industry. There will be fewer rewards, points will be lost and more people will be kicking themselves for not taking payday loans to pay for those doctor’s bills instead of applying for a new credit card.

Rapid growth to meet unaddressed need

From the 1990s to the time of Pyper’s study in 2007, roughly 200 faxless payday loan outlets in the United States blossomed to around 22,000, with an annual loan volume of $40 billion (Ernst and Young 2004; Kirchhoff 2006). A similar growth pattern occurred in Canada, where a few stores became about 1,200 in 2004 (Kitching and Starky 2006, 4). These numbers obviously pale in comparison to the gigantic banking establishment, but the number of transactions performed by payday loan companies is significant (Ramsay 2000, 4).

Relatively high costs and clear disclosure are issues Canadian critics have raised (Canada 2006; ACORN Canada 2004), but on a practical level, many families value the convenience and don’t have a problem with the product. And the costs are much less than the closest alternative for those in need: depending upon checking overdraft.

Why do consumers like payday loans?

Families borrow money for different reasons. Like many of us, they encounter difficulties from time to time that make it impossible to meet all of their financial obligations with what they have on hand. It could be due to health, a broken down car, family emergency or most anything else with real short-term implications. Realistically, money management is also a factor. How we save and how we spend have a tremendous impact upon our financial well-being.

Pyper explores the question of why people take faxless payday loans rather than going to a traditional bank. Convenience, location, operating hours and approval speed are determining factors (Environics 2005), as is the reality that banks and credit unions have for the most part failed to serve certain communities and clientele with less than perfect credit (ACORN 2004, CMC 2002).

The blush of youth

Looking at Pyper’s Canadian sample, fully one-quarter of families who were payday loan borrowers had a major income recipient aged 15 to 24, compared with only six percent who were not. Similarly, payday loan families less frequently had a major income recipient 45 or older. Based upon her findings, young families were three times more likely to have used payday loans.

Why more often with younger families? If there are children, expenses can be stretched to more challenging levels, but the statistical impact as this relates to using payday loans was – in Pyper’s findings – not significant. Some sources even suggest that the greater the education level, the less likely consumers would be to use the product. However, Pyper’s findings run contrary to this assertion.

Payday loans, income and liquid savings

Pyper had this to say regarding family income findings:

Low-income families (after tax) were fully twice as likely as those not in low income to have used payday loans—4.6 percent compared with 2.3 percent. A further breakdown shows that families with higher incomes had significantly lower incidence of using payday loans—1.4 percent for those above $66,000 versus three percent for those between $40,001 and $66,000.

Liquid assets and whether the borrower was a homeowner did prove to be significant to the payday loan use equation. The greater the assets held, the less likely people were found to call on payday loans. Moreover, renters were found to be three times more likely than homeowners to use the product.

Payday loans: less costly than credit cards

Families who were without a credit card were more likely to have had a payday loan in Pyper’s study. In fact, for those who had been unable to obtain credit in that way, respondents were three times more likely to have used faxless payday loans instead. Unfortunately, the revolving debt trap credit cards pose could have been avoided if customers had relied upon payday loans for their short-term credit needs. After the typical two-week period, a loan could have been repaid with only an additional 15- to 30-percent outlay.

A very real need

Pyper’s findings are impossible to ignore. Nearly half of families who used payday loans reported that they “had no one to turn to for financial assistance in the face of financial difficulty, significantly more than other families (32%).”

As many of us are experiencing greater than normal financial challenges during the current recession, having the ability to responsibly rely upon a product like the payday loan is extremely valuable. Consumers who need a quick solution to a financial emergency can take advantage of the speed, convenience and discretion the products provide, without the worry of constantly spiraling debt that credit cards can easily introduce.

It must be big

Ready to bust some banks, Barack?

Financial strategist and author David Smick’s recent Washington Post editorial  “Memo to the Banks: Lend or Else” suggests that the President-elect must make bold moves in order to help recapture consumer (and institutional) confidence in the U.S. economy. One of the best ways he sees to accomplish this is via a showdown with the country’s afflicted banking system. Something like this would be much more important (and much less destructive) than cracking down on faxless payday loans that actually aid consumers.

At one time, banks were considered “too big to fail.” Clearly that is no longer the case, though, as massive bailouts from the Bush administration have shown.  Did you know, however, that current post-bailout cash reserves for America’s banks sit at over $800 billion? What are they doing with the money? They’re sitting on it! Smick blasts American banks, for they have shifted from reckless abandon to static safety. The result of this is that they are tightening their belts so much that credit has been unable to flow as it needs to.

The economy suffers

Banks have been doing something with the money. Unfortunately, it’s nothing good. The cockeyed leadership of these financial dumps have taken it upon themselves to send their executives on spa vacations and double their investment in Chinese banks. Common sense or a drive to tackle issues at home head on are nowhere to be seen.

The mortgage crisis is tightly wound up in this, too. Smick points out that giving loans to people who could scarcely repay them was one thing, but the banks made things even worse by burying their errors in off-the-books ventures. We may never know exactly how big a hole the banks dug for themselves, or whether they needed as much money as they received from an all-too-eager government in the first place!

Obama had better bring a shovel

If banks won’t lend, Smick suggests that Obama ride a hard line with these deeply diseased behemoths. He should insist that their Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds be used to buy Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt. Since it is now federally guaranteed, bank executives have no excuse. They cannot sit on their freshly manicured hands, they cannot pass Go and they cannot go on any more “team-building” retreats. It’s time to act like big boys and girls now, or else.

Some bankers are saying they’re confused by the government’s efforts, that some are telling them to demand more capital and lend less money, while others say they’re receiving the opposite message. Poppycock. You know that increased lending will improve liquidity and get this economy on the right track again. You want to make excuses, Mr. and Mrs. Bank.

Wow. Now.

America is in a financial crisis. This is not a test, but the real thing. As Smick sees it, Obama’s only move is to take banks to the carpet and make them heel. Busting banks for their misdeeds is what is needed, not punching payday loans in the mouth. Whether or not this will be possible remains to be seen, but what America wants to see is bold moves. They will appreciate the effort and (hopefully) savor the results.

When the framers of the United States Constitution laid down the laws of the land, they could not have predicted a financial crisis of the magnitude currently faced. The laws protecting consumers were written during the formative years of the American Republic, long before mega-banks, credit cards or no fax payday loans. Once consumer safety laws began to appear, their intention was to protect consumers against dangerous products. Financial products, however, have always been an exception. Thus, the author suggests adopting financial product regulations that keep pace with the degree of protection afforded consumers by standard product regulations.

Financial products can be dangerous, but…

Part of the problem is that American law looks at financial products as a contract between equal parties, rather than as products that can potentially be harmful. As the author points out, this way of viewing financial products is the same as it has been in America since colonial times. Back then, “the typical contract was between a merchant and a shopkeeper who were haggling over the price of a handmade plow.” Faxless payday loans were, of course, unimagined.

Is it still an equal transaction when the average consumer is negotiating with a monolithic bank? We may be financially savvy, but the average person doesn’t have the time or legal resources to negotiate terms on the same level as a bank or credit card company.

Why is there such an imbalance now?

Most financial agencies are designed primarily to protect banks. As states’ rights eroded following America’s Civil War, much of their ability to dictate laws was lost, and Congress did little to fill the gap when it came to finance law. The Federal Reserve’s recent announcement that it will restrict credit card companies is one sign of movement (even though it is not a government agency), but the author calls for more to be done.

Striking a balance between regulation and over-regulation is difficult

Tyagi believes that mortgages, car loans, payday loans and other financial products should be regulated by a Financial Product Safety Commission (based upon the Consumer Product Safety Commission (see http://www.cpsc.gov/)). The primary goal of this new organization would be to “review financial products to ensure that they do what they’re supposed to do, without any hidden dangers or unreasonable tricks.”

What such an organization cannot and should not do is  try to save people from themselves. Charging too much, taking out a mortgage larger than can be easily handled – these are potential dangers in consumer credit, but buyers must exercise their own restraint. The same holds true with payday loans. Lenders encourage customers never to borrow more than they can afford to repay. If payday loans are used responsibly, they can be a real lifesaver during small-scale crises. Used without restraint, they can cause problems, just the same as credit cards or gigantic mortgages (albeit on a much lesser scale than the latter two). Ideas like those of Amelia Tyagi are good, but we must always be careful not to give up our individual right to free choice in favor of big brother government over-regulation.

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Critics’ reasons are insufficient

Mann and Hawkins point out that those who are chomping at the bit to ban or tightly regulate no fax payday loans have typically neglected to explain what is so offensive about the product and its market. The reasons commonly stated are insufficient:

High interest rates standing alone are not a sufficient basis for regulatory intervention. Furthermore, such criticism has failed to explain how the elimination of payday lending would protect consumers who would then be drawn to other, even riskier sources of cash.

The reasons for strong action against payday loans must be more clearly given. There must be an imminent danger that requires action, and before this can happen, the market must be understood. Are payday lending outlets reaping ridiculous profits from helpless consumers? An FDIC study by Mark Flannery and Katherine Samolyk indicates much to the contrary, that the typical payday loan store has “an outstanding loan portfolio of less than $100,000 and annual revenues of about $350,000.”

Is repeat business then the sole element upon which the payday loan business model rests? Flannery and Samolyk find “no evidence that loan rollovers and repeat borrowers affect store profits beyond their proportional contribution to total loan volume.”

What favors payday loans?

As Mann and Hawkins show, legislation authorizing faxless payday loans is common across America. The authors’ key points revolve around the ideas that permitting lending is essential, that there is an insubstantial link between payday loans and financial distress, and that it is likely that a ban would push consumers toward riskier choices.

No fax payday loans are attractive to consumers. Unlike using a credit card, payday loans are limited in their ability to lead to an astronomical debt spiral. This is a protection that helps consumers to focus only on the immediate cash need, without having to worry about paying it back over many months as credit cards and traditional large bank loans typically require.

Current studies support payday loans

Mann and Hawkins feel that the truth is out there

Existing empirical research allows us to provide some insight into why consumers rationally might prefer the product to its alternatives and how businesses can profit from lending to those consumers.

There are a number of controls they do call for, however, chief among them being the adoption of a database system across America, one which is similar to the one currently being used in the state of Michigan. This would make it easy to avoid situations where excessive repeat borrowing could become too much of a drain upon certain consumers. Ultimately, the authors agree that banning payday loans will be more harmful than helpful, particularly because doing so will not achieve the end overzealous regulators believe it will. Rather, according to the authors, “the evidence suggests that bans may well cause consumers to borrow from sources that provide products that are less beneficial-products that consumers are more likely to avoid in markets that tolerate payday lending.” Payday loans, then, are a useful tool for consumers in need, and banning them would not achieve a desirable result in society.

NEW YORK - APRIL 15

But let’s think about it. Since it’s time to file your income taxes, you may be thinking about the size of the refund you are entitled to. If you experience a financial setback at this time, it’s only natural to be interested in the possibility of receiving your tax refund money early, right?

Be careful – tax refund loans aren’t as good as they seem

Tax refund loans, also called instant refund loans or refund anticipation loans, seem like a great thing if you need cash right now. But the costs are steep. Origination fees range from $29.95 to $89.95, and electronic filing fees of $40 are also common. All you typically need to apply is a year-end pay stub, proof of employment and identification. Sure, you can receive all or a portion of your tax refund (up to about $5,000) within a couple of days, but why would you want to when payday loans are available without origination or “filing” fees?

According to About.com, “the fees for the average refund of just under $2,000 extrapolate to an annual percentage rate of 222.5 percent. Yet 12 million taxpayers paid over $900 million dollars in fees last year just to get their refunds a little faster.”

People think they need tax refund loans

Have they heard of no fax payday loans? They a much more attractive option. Yet the new trend persists.

In Atlanta Journal-Constitution coverage of this outrageous phenomenon, we see that people are indeed using tax refund loans to cover cash emergencies. Graphic artist Pat Cameron had medical bills to cover, so he went to Jackson Hewitt for a tax refund loan.

“I know they charge so much, but this will get me through the first of the month,” he said.

The IRS doesn’t endorse such programs, but neither do they openly speak out against them. They encourage taxpayers to use free electronic filing services, which directly deposit any refund monies due into a consumer’s checking or savings account in about 10 business days. For those who can show hardship, there are even special programs available. But if even that is not fast enough, faxless payday loans are a much better option than tax refund loans.

Recession drives people to desperate ends

That’s exactly the category tax refund loans fall under: desperation.

Overdue bills, foreclosures, rent and many other ominous signs are threatening the financial well-being of consumers. Numerous big-box tax preparation companies like H & R Block, Jackson Hewitt and others are swooping in with these high fee, high interest loans.

Suzanne Boas, president of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta, is quoted on the matter in the Journal-Constitution

Generally, we don’t think it’s a good idea to pay such an exorbitant rate to get what would be due to you anyway in a couple of weeks.

Consumers, payday loans are a better option!

If you are due a tax refund, you will receive it in a couple of weeks if you are using free electronic filing with direct deposit. Don’t go the route of tax refund loans unless paying exorbitant fees upon fees, plus high interest are OK with you. Logically, it’s not the best choice. If you need quick cash for an emergency and can’t wait until you have your tax refund safely in your bank account, try payday loans. They’re cheaper, fast and quite discreet.

If you need assistance with tax trouble click tax resolution/settlement.

Thank You for my Financial Success

Recent academic studies of the no fax payday loan industry suggest in a clear, supported manner that the loan product is imminently useful to consumers with less than perfect credit who require short-term budgetary assistance. Dean Karlan of Yale and Jonathan Zinman of Dartmouth recently published a study entitled “Expanding Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts” which can be found at http://www.cepr.org/Pubs/new-dps/dplist.asp?dpno=6180. In this study, a strong case is made for not only allowing no fax payday loans, but encouraging expanded offerings of microcredit to all, but particularly those who have been traditionally unserved or underserved by the banking establishment.

Microfinance – born of necessity

Microfinance loans began with the intent of serving consumers who are seeking to build their financial futures. Establishing or improving credit, which is necessary in order to transact with banks, is a primary indicator of financial well-being. By benefiting individuals in this way, short-term payday loans can also be an essential ingredient in regional financial upturn, helping citizens one at a time. Karlan and Zinman found that such loans produced “significant benefits for borrowers across a wide range of economic and well-being,” and hence this form of short-term consumer credit “can be welfare-improving.”

Karlan and Zinman find that expanded access to credit significantly improved average outcomes, and they accomplished this by studying the financial well-being of borrowers for many months after they have used the services of a payday loan.

• During the six to 12 month period, borrowers were “significantly more likely to retain their job” when compared with a control group, and incomes were higher. Households involved in the study, when compared with a control sample, were also less likely to experience hunger, and had more positive views on their financial prospects

• From 15 to 27 months, Karlan and Zinman reported that those without credit established credit scores, and that scores did not decrease due to the use of faxless payday loans

Costs of payday loans didn’t harm consumers

Admittedly, the study did find that the median loan size was about 40 percent of the sample borrower’s gross monthly income.Payday loans in the sample were even taken at the extrapolated annual rate of 200 percent, even though they were not 12-month loans. However, economic downtown was not an observed result of borrowing, and after the six to 12 month period, households were not more likely to take out another loan. This flies in the face of the “cycle of debt” model that is popular in media analysis.

Payday loans are found to be beneficial

“We do not find any evidence that expanding access to consumer credit reduces creditworthiness over a two-year horizon. If anything, the treatment seems to have had a (socially) beneficial impact on creditworthiness by increasing the probability of obtaining a credit score,” write the study authors. “Most importantly, we do not find any evidence that the net effects of expanded access to consumer credit are negative.”

If media outlets looked to sources like Karlan and Zinman, who provide more than anecdotal evidence regarding the worth of payday loans, their stories would be credible. However, then the media would have to report the truth – that the payday loan is not the indicator of financial apocalypse, but a tool for economic betterment.

Payday Loans

No fax payday loans has been a fast-growing industry

The growth of the industry was predicated largely by the fact that traditional banking pulled out of the small-scale consumer loan arena and bank consolidations across the country produced greater numbers of consumers who were un-served or under-served by the banking establishment. The authors of the study, by recreating the environment that the average payday loan customer faces, examine what effect having access to the loan type has on their ability to manage their financial affairs and avoid traps.

With faxless payday loans, customers survive

What was it that the authors found? They found that payday loans are indeed an effective buffer against expenditure shocks. It raises their financial welfare. For those who do use payday loans during financial emergencies, however, the authors point out that there is a risk element involved, in that use must remain below a certain threshold in order to help consumers avoid creating a recurring debt cycle. However, the, majority of subjects in the experiment benefited from the existence of future use of payday loans.